Economy, education and abortion drive early voters

CEDAR RAPIDS — Unsurprisingly, inflation, gas prices and abortion access have been at the top of Iowa voters’ minds as they cast early ballots in the Nov. 8 midterm election, reflecting national polling.

Education, too, has been a focal concern for many Linn County voters interviewed by The Gazette — both in terms of funding, school choice and parental involvement in the classroom. The Gazette interviewed Linn County voters who cast early ballots this week about the issues, races and candidates influencing their vote.

Here’s what they had to say.

The economy

Brad Aldrich, a 59-year-old retired social worker from Cedar Rapids, said he’s worried about the state of the U.S. economy, which bounced back last quarter, growing at an adjusted rate of 2.6 percent, after shrinking in the first half of the year.

Stronger exports and steady consumer spending, backed by a healthy job market, helped snap two straight quarters of economic contraction, according to initial estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

But high gas prices and stubborn inflation have him concerned about his retirement and paying the bills.

“Things have, you know, almost doubled in price — gas, groceries, everything,” Aldrich said. “It’s hard to make it. … You work all your life and the stock market is down. So me and my wife are both retired and it’s kind of a struggle.”

Whether Democrats are to blame — as Republicans have forcefully asserted in TV ads, on the campaign trail and on social media — or whether “a carry-over from the Trump administration,” Aldrich said “it’s hard to know.” But said he feels the Biden administration and Democratic majorities in Congress have failed to effectively allay economic concerns.

He said he was pleased by tax cuts pushed and signed into law by Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds that eliminates state taxes on retirement income.

“I think our state is doing a pretty good job,” Aldrich said of Reynolds and a record $2 billion budget surplus.

Nicole Ibrahim, 42, of Cedar Rapids did not vote in the 2020 election, but decided to cast her ballot early in this year’s midterm election due to inflation and disapproval of President Joe Biden.

“Not that I was happy with the other president,” Ibrahim said of former President Donald Trump, “but the economy was better. Everyone had income. It just was a better time I feel. I think we’re in a downward trend, and just trying to change that.”

At the same time, Ibrahim said she was unsure whether a Republican-run Congress wold do any better.

“I’m not exactly sure that they would do, but I know that we need help,” she said. “So something needs to change. … If we don’t like something, correct it.”

Lea Benson, 65, a retired social worker from Robins, shared similar feelings.

“I don’t feel (Biden) has done anything to address” inflation, Benson said. “He uses the words, but his actions do not support (that). You don’t spend, spend, spend.”

Abortion

Andrea Doubet is a 74-year-old retired teacher from Lisbon. Doubet said the “most strident” issue for her in the Nov. 8 election is protecting women’s reproductive rights and abortion access.

The issue has galvanized voters following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal in June of Roe v. Wade, removing the federal right to an abortion. The court decision has cleared the way for states to reshape abortion laws across the country and pass near-total abortion bans.

Reynolds is asking the Polk County District Court to reinstate the law she signed to ban most abortions after a “fetal heartbeat” is detected, with limited exceptions. That can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. A judge had earlier ruled the law unconstitutional.

Republican members of Iowa’s congressional delegation running for re-election also have signed onto proposed nationwide abortion bans.

“I think you should be able to make your own choice as you need, medically,” Doubet said. “That the state shouldn’t have a right to shut down your choices. So that’s the main issue for me.”

Aldrich, too, said abortion was a key issue for him in the midterm election. “I think women should have the right to do whatever they want,” he said.

Education

Doubet, who retired after 47 years of teaching, said she’s also dismayed by Reynolds’ proposal to provide taxpayer-funded scholarships to families to seek education at a private school. The program has been a key legislative goal of Reynolds, but failed to gain enough support in the GOP-controlled Iowa House and will likely will be a focus during next year’s legislative session.

“I was a teacher for a lot of years and that kind of hits home,” Doubet said. “She doesn’t need to be taking away from money (for public K-12 education), when schools don’t have enough to begin with. And, if people choose to send their children to private schools, they need to have their financing to be able to make that choice. Otherwise, public school is there for them without the sacrifice of money.”

Fellow retires teacher Dave Messerli, 72, of Marion, shared similar feelings.

“I’m not for vouchers for private schools,” Messerli said. “That’s probably the biggest issue for me,” second to abortion.“

Preserving democracy

Seventy-two-year-old retiree Alan Evan-Schwartz of Cedar Rapids said he fears U.S. democracy is under threat, with attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election giving way to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the rise of sustained disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election eroding faith in elections.

“I think (democracy) is under threat from some politicians and leaders. And this is the one shot I have to try to right the ship that I think is not necessarily going well,” he said.

He said he supports the work of the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

Gun rights

Evan-Schwartz’s wife, Chris, a retired educator, said she was most concerned about a measure that would add language to the Iowa Constitution that states it is a “fundamental individual right“ to keep and bear arms, and that any restraint on that right is invalid unless it meets the stringent demands of “strict scrutiny” in court.

Chris Evan-Schwartz said she worried the amendment would prohibit reasonable safety measures, such as firearm safety training, universal background checks and a license to carry a gun in public.

Supporters say the amendment is necessary to protect Iowans' gun rights from infringement.

“I think safety, especially after the recent school shootings, is a really big concern of mine,” she said. “And I think we need to be able to limit guns.”

As mother with four children who’s concerned about their safety at school, Ibrahim said the amendment “was a very touchy issue for her,” but supported it.

“I do think there should be more scrutiny on who gets to purchase a gun, or who gets the right to keep the gun, if they’ve already did something wrong or proven they’ve had mental issues,” said Ibrahim, who said she supported the amendment. “I think there needs to be more scrutiny with that. But I do agree that it’s our right to have the ability to purchase and keep guns on our properties and keep our homes safe.”

Lower early voting numbers

Iowa election officials are seeing fewer absentee ballot requests and lower early voting counts.

A total of 259,432 Iowans had requested absentee ballots to vote in the Nov. 8 midterm election, down more than 40 percent from the last midterm elections in 2018 and 2014, according to data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.

Monday marked the final day for Iowa voters to apply for an absentee ballot to be mailed to them after state lawmakers last year passed new laws that, among other provisions, shortened the early voting window from 29 days to 20 days before Election Day.

As of the end of Thursday, a little more than 167,000 Iowans had cast early ballots, down considerably from the same point in both 2018 and 2014. At the same point in 2020, more than 685,000 Iowans has cast an early ballot.

Democrats were leading the early vote turnout as of Thursday evening, accounting for more than 55 percent of absentee ballots cast, with Republicans accounting for roughly 31 percent and no-party voters roughly 13 percent.

John Deeth, elections technician with the Johnson County Auditor’s Office, said the change has created a tight window for early voting, lowering the number of ballot requests and early vote counts.

“By mail requests are down significantly from 2018,” Deeth said in an email. “Part of this is due to the earlier deadline. Requests that were good in past years are now too late. We have also seen fewer absentee ballot request mailings from interest groups that were especially active in the 2018 cycle.”

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller said the county saw less than half of the ballot requests it did in 2018 and 2014 with the start of early voting on Oct. 19 this cycle.

“There’s no way around saying thus far the new voting laws have reduced early voting,“ said Miller, a Democrat running to be Iowa Secretary of State. ”You can’t ignore that the laws have had an effect. Will it affect overall voting when everything is said and done? That remains to be seen.“

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com